Harvard - Teen Author Earned Good Reputation Early

Colleges and Universities A-Z Harvard University
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<p>See the link here: <a href="http://www.yahoo.com/s/307377%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yahoo.com/s/307377&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Article below in italic form:</p>

<p>*The Harvard University sophomore with the six-figure book deal honed her love of writing at the Bergen County Academies, a rigorous New Jersey magnet high school where even top students can be intimidated.</p>

<p>"She was such a good student — everyone knew of Kaavya," said Kayleigh Wettstein, 18, now a senior in the school's Science & Technology Academy.</p>

<p>Viswanathan became even better known in recent weeks amid a cascade of plagiarism allegations against her novel, "How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life." Publisher Little, Brown and Company last week canceled the reported $500,000-deal with the teen.</p>

<p>For the Indian-born Viswanathan, 19, the downfall is an abrupt reversal in a young life marked by accomplishments that still earn her admiration from former teachers at a school where only one in four applicants is admitted.</p>

<p>At the Bergen County Academies — where the average SAT score is 1,322, or 30 percent higher than the state average — Viswanathan attended the school's premier Academy for the Advancement of Science & Technology.</p>

<p>She edited the school's online magazine and earned numerous writing awards. After showing a story to a counselor at a private college-prep firm, a meeting with a publisher was arranged and the strikingly pretty young woman emerged with a two-book contract. Sporting a 4.16 grade point average and 1,560 on the SATs, the high-school valedictorian headed to Harvard, where she is completing her sophomore year.</p>

<p>The novel about a driven, high-achieving Indian-American teen trying to get into Harvard was published in March. Within a month, student newspaper The Harvard Crimson pointed out similarities between dozens of passages of Viswanathan's novel and two works by Megan McCafferty, "Sloppy Firsts" and "Second Helpings."</p>

<p>Viswanathan quickly apologized for what she said was an unconscious imitation of books she read and admired years earlier, and Little, Brown planned to revise future editions. But within days readers pointed out similarities between "Opal Mehta" and the works of several other writers, including Meg Cabot's "The Princess Diaries," prompting the publisher to cancel the contract and withdraw the book from sale.</p>

<p>Neither Viswanathan nor her parents returned several phone calls seeking comment. But those who knew her as a high school student say plagiarism is at odds with the girl they remember.</p>

<p>"I saw an extremely bright and extraordinarily gifted 16-year-old with a talent for writing," said Katherine Cohen, for two years Viswanathan's counselor at Manhattan-based IvyWise, where college prep sessions cost parents tens of thousands of dollars. Author of "Rock Hard Apps: How to Write the Killer College Application," it was Cohen who introduced the student to a book agent.</p>

<p>"I don't believe the Kaavya I know would ever wantonly or willingly copy someone else's work with the deliberate intent to deceive others," Cohen said.</p>

<p>Born in Madras, India, Viswanathan and her family immigrated to Scotland when she was 3. They moved to New Jersey when she was 12. Her neurosurgeon father and her obstetrician mother now live on a carefully tailored cul-de-sac of five sprawling homes in Franklin Lakes, one of the wealthiest towns in New Jersey.</p>

<p>In an environment where resume-conscious students often schedule electives into every free period, including lunch, observers said Viswanathan did not seem overly pressured.</p>

<p>Classmate Katelyn Purpuro, just completing her sophomore year at Cornell University, said she only knew Viswanathan in passing from a senior-year statistics class, but was aware of the other girl's ambition to go to Harvard, and that she was taking extra Advanced Placement classes to prepare. Purpuro described a driven student, but not a student stressed out by her obligations.</p>

<p>"Kaavya was an overachiever, but she was doing well at it," Purpuro said. "She was not carefree, but calm. She was always on top of things."</p>

<p>Viswanathan was featured in a 2004 Chronicle of Higher Education article detailing how even successful students are "schmoozing" with admissions officials to make themselves more memorable. Viswanathan was described as having visited nine exclusive colleges, following up with phone calls and monthly e-mails to admissions officers to underscore her interest. </p>

<p>"I think a lot of applying to college is about strategy," Viswanathan told the magazine. "When they read my application, maybe they'll remember me."*</p>

2

<p>sounds like every other post-mortem of a "personal lapse," down to the disbelieving quotes from former acquaintances.</p>

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<p>yes, I agreed with f.scottie</p>

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<p>i go to the same school.
my journalism teacher is the same guy that liked her alot...
it's a real shame. i'm sure the publisher had something to do with this.</p>

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<p>Nobody should feel sorry for someone that basically stole ideas and purported them as their own. It's pretty idiotic to do something like this and get "caught".</p>

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<p>Did she steal ideas though? All I seem to gather is that she had a mix of shared writing styles with SEVERAL different authors, meaning she borrowed a little from everyone she admired. That's what everyone in comedy does, and none of us accuse each other of plagiarism. I wasn't aware that it was plagiarism in writing as well, since Isaac Assimov wrote in one of his essays that a situation like this is basically where the new generations stand on the shoulders of past giants to reach further.</p>

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<p>Let's make unfounded claims!</p>

<p>Check out her ACTUAL plagarism (it's worse than any of the previous posters have made it out to be) here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/Passages.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/Passages.pdf&lt;/a> </p>

<p>A little more than a "personal lapse," eh? </p>

<p>But, yes, she was obviously under stress--age 19, away from her family for an extended period of time, dealing with Harvard schoolwork, a publisher that has a strict deadline, etc.</p>

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<p>This is so crazy. Some of the passages look like they could be coincidental (not saying they all are though).</p>

<p>What will happen when nearly everything's been written and nobody can write without being accused of plagiarism?</p>

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<p>Charter, I don't see the blatant plagiarism. True, she imitated some of her favorite authors, but in sci fi, many people I know try to imitate Asimov..</p>

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<p>
[QUOTE]
This is so crazy. Some of the passages look like they could be coincidental (not saying they all are though).</p>

<p>What will happen when nearly everything's been written and nobody can write without being accused of plagiarism?

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>There's a short story (more of a thought experiment) called "The Library of Babel" (written by the wonderful Jorge Luis Borges), that imagines a library containing every single possible book (of a certain length and certain alphabet). I can't do it justice, but the question he poses is whether, somewhere in this vast library of books that are mostly complete nonsense, there are books that explain the secrets of the universe, and whether a determined librarian could find them if he searched for eons...</p>

<p>Anyway, outside of this fantasy, it's just ridiculous to imagine that there'll ever come a time when "nearly everything's been written." Can you imagine how many trillions of trillions of books you'd need to completely exhaust all possibilities of coherent works? That's just not going to happen.</p>

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<p>Admiral - True, but some of the phrases that have been copied (yes I'm pretty sure they were plagiarized) aren't too uncommon. They could easily be unknowingly imitated down the road by another author. What happens then?</p>

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<p>


</p>

<p>Are you joking? Did you go to the link I posted?</p>

<p>
[quote]
8. Passage from McCafferty’s novel:
Marcus then leaned across me to open the passenger side door. He was invading my personal space, as I had learned in Psych. class, and I instinctively sunk back into the seat. That just made him move in closer. I was practically one with the leather at this point, and unless I hopped into the backseat, there was nowhere else for me to go.
McCafferty, Sloppy Firsts (Three Rivers, 2001), page 175

[/quote]

Compare that to this:

[quote]
Alleged infringing passage in Viswanathan’s novel:
Sean stood up and stepped toward me, ostensibly to show me the book. He was definitely invading my personal space, as I had learned in Human Evolution class last summer, and I instinctively backed up till my legs hit the chair I had been sitting in. That just made him move in closer, until the grommets in the leather embossed the backs of my knees, and he finally tilted the book toward me.

[/quote]

... and there are worse. </p>

<p>Try telling your AP English teacher that you "borrowed" from another writer. I don't think you would get the same sympathy that Viswanathan is getting in this thread. There's no excuse for plagarism, regardless of the fact that she is a Harvard student.</p>

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<p>One parallel sentence? I've read over the first have, and the total amount of sentences she's "imitated" amounts to what? 15 sentences? </p>

<p>Are writers this jealous of a few lines of parallel phrasing?</p>

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<p>It's not the fact that there are a few parallel lines, there are 27 pages of parallel phrasing. And for her to say that she were "unconscious imitation" is complete bull. Some of her sentences are so similar to McCafferty's that the she must have been writing her book while reading McCafferty's book.</p>

<p>Question: Is she still at Harvard? Or has she been expelled? If she hasnt been expelled, then why not? It is blantantly obvious that she plagiarized McCafferty's work. And for people to say well stress is an excuss is ridiculous - most ivy league applicants could use the same excuse for cheating or some other unethical behaviour. </p>

<p>All in all, she plagiaized someone else's work and sold it as her own. Is what she did illegal? - Regardless, McCafferty and everyone else she plagiazed should sue her. Then regardless of whether Harvard expels her, she wouldn't have the money to go.</p>

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<p>What is the latest news about how she is doing as a student? It's been about a year since she was a big national news story. </p>

<p>Her publisher's reaction of cancelling her book deal and withdrawing an already printed book from the market says all that anyone needs to know about whether she committed plagiarism. Her publisher would have fought for its sunk printing cost in court as against the other publisher if there were any doubt.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
What is the latest news about how she is doing as a student? It's been about a year since she was a big national news story.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>She's still a student at Harvard, and, if I understand correctly, is even a student advisor of sorts.</p>

<p>While I think this whole thing is unfortunate, I think that we need to learn our lessons, let the Kaavya-hysteria die, and go on.</p>

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<p>I completely understand language internalization-my being non-native has contributed to that. When trying to assimilate vocabulary, internalization is an automatic mechanism, and it DOES affect how one talks, addresses other people, and so on. </p>

<p>I sympathize Kaavya :)</p>

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<p>I agree, but that would account for similar construction and style... not similar topics and ideas. Even more, that would make sense if it happened once or maybe twice, but it happens so frequently that it can't just be coincidence. First, how would she remeber all that (almost exact phrasing) for the 17 pages of similarities? Second, why are the ideas the same? </p>

<p>My view: She tried to pull a fast one and got caught.</p>

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<p>I think what Kaavya did is disappointing, especially since she not only represents Harvard, but also the young writers out there that are publishing their works, and Indians worldwide. I read the similarities between mccafferty's novel and her's and frankly copying similar circumstances from mccafferty's for her novel is not considered very good. I agree that in this day and age its practically impossible to not plagarize from some place, but it is very clear that she was basically retelling one of her favorite stories with very similar words, phrases, and scenarios which is not the same as taking ideas from many different novels.</p>

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<p>Kaavya does not "represent Indians worldwide". The only relevant aspect in which she represents children of educated Indian immigrants in the USA is the absolute obsession of the parents and/or the children with university admission.</p>